Any Doctor Who Fans? **UK AIR-DATE SPOILERS ABOUND**- Page 38

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 10:37am

Good review. I think Moffat's writing will be the least of problems, hopefully, and the Doctor seems always to be a great character no matter who's playing him. I've noticed lots of comparisons between Amy Pond and Donna. Amy looks like she'll be a fun companion.

I didn't like the new intro either. (Saw it separately posted to YouTube, I think.) Reminds me of something I saw on the Travel Channel once about the Bermuda Triangle and a plane travelling through time by accident.

Updated On: 4/4/10 at 10:37 AM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 12:16pm

Here is the new extended season 5 trailer. Just look at the caliber of guest stars. WOW!


The One Thing You NEVER Put In A Trap

[kec]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 5:44pm

Good review Spider -- I couldn't wait either and thought it was excellent. I didn't have the problem with the "villian" you did -- the creature really creeped me out. So looking forward to the rest of the programs.

[Plum]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 6:47pm

Spidey, it's worth noting that Who's budget has been significantly reduced - hence the hospital ward with no one in it, for instance, and the, erm, "special" special effects in the initial TARDIS-flying-around sequence.

That said, I thought the multiform was kind of awesome whenever it got the voices "wrong". The man barking was such a cool, arresting image.

The plot of this episode was pretty derivative and lame overall, but it was just there as a frame upon which to hang our introduction to Eleven and Amy, and in that respect it succeeded mightily. I like Matt Smith already - despite being younger than Tennant, he easily comes off as more mature, his tics and weirdness more organic and less WATCH ME GRIMACE AND SPIT A LOT.

The first fifteen minutes with little Amelia had exactly the kind of fairy tale atmosphere Moffat was clearly going for. Eleven is basically the best imaginary friend ever - weird and funny and able to help with the scary crack in the wall. And best of all, when you're an adult he turns out to be a real alien who wants to take you in his madman's box to see the universe! What a perfect character introduction to win over children and children disguised as adults.

This version of New Who is already lacking some of the sour misanthropy that RTD's curdled into - witness the treatment of Rory and poor porn-loving Jeff - and while Moffat could do better than repeating his own jokes, when his humor was original it really worked.

And Karen Gillan is just wonderful - I love how clearly odd Amy is, and how pretty much her entire village knows that she's weird and indulges it. Oh, Amy's closed a car door on a man's tie? Just another Tuesday. :P On top of having the usual companion qualities of resourcefulness and courage she's also an evasive, commitment-phobic liar, and I think that's awesome.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 7:58pm

I agree with what you said Plum (SAY WHAT?!?!). When the villain took the shape of the people, it was awesome. But, when I said "bad," I meant when it was that worm thing and also it didn't give any background as to exactly what it's purpose is. But, Moffat is off to a really good start and can't wait to see where he takes us

Ps. Why is the budget cut? You would think that since this is a global phenomenon (more so in England, of course) that it would have a lot of money. Weird!

Updated On: 4/4/10 at 07:58 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 8:58pm

The BBC has less funding overall even with money made off of Doctor Who, so it has less money to give and it's cutting spending for everyone, that show included. If you want to talk the Brits into a higher license fee, feel free. :P

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 9:38pm

I know the Brits have a different way of getting their tv programmes, but why doesn't the BBC realize all the money they could get by charging those of us who love British television a monthly/yearly fee to access their site? Maybe make a mirror site for those who aren't citizens, so they could keep tabs on it. They would make a fortune---$10.00 a month or $60.00 a year or some other such fee I sould happily pay---just give up mochas for a week, and bob's your uncle!

[Plum]

Posted: 4/4/10 at 10:21pm

I imagine that BBC America would have something to say about that.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/5/10 at 5:03pm

This would be for the stuff that BBC America doesn't show on theirsite---such as the confidentials, etc. And would include a lot of British programming that BBCA doesn't even consider! I'd love to watch some of the shows BBCA doesn't think we Yanks would like!

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/5/10 at 6:54pm

Unless BBC America's site would get all that stuff. In which case, we wouldn't have to rely on the U.K. sites.

In which case, there wouldn't be much of a difference between the two sites.

In which case...that would explain why they both have different 'exclusive' videos. Although the feature in the U.K. are better by a lot.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 9:18am

For example, I love Cash In The Attic---but I don't want to be up at 4am to watcvh it (and I'm working at 10am when it's on again). I'd love to see videos of that. And Law & ORder UK, some of the classic sitcoms such as Some Mothers Do Have 'Em, etc. (not that they are all BBC, just examples) BBCA just shows the same things, over and over (not that I mind when it's the doctor, ) It's just that there is so much more that is insteresting than the same 6 shows. What about classic DW? That's available on the UK site.
I do go to the BBCA site, I just want more!
Eastenders, anyone?

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:31pm

I've been reading a bunch of reviews about 'the Eleventh Hour' and Matt Smith and still haven't seen it yet. Two more weeks...

On another note, Neil Gaiman wrote a rather cute blog about Doctor Who:

Neil Gaiman's Journal: How to Mortify Your Daughter

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 6:56pm

I love Neil! That was a funny post (though I was into DW when I was 15...but no one in my family is!)

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 10:46pm

You know what?!?! In the season premier, the multiform said to beware "the silence." And, one of the monsters coming up this season looks EXACTLY like the monsters in the Buffy episode called "Hush," where the whole town goes silent. Could this be the same monster?

[kec]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 11:00pm

Are you referring to the Smilers by any chance? I have a vague memory of those creatures in Buffy, and when you mentioned Hush, they came to mind.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 11:04pm

Yes, the Smilers.




Watch the extended trailer I posted and they are at 1:32. Now that I watched the trailer again, they don't look "exactly" like the Smilers but pretty damn close.

Updated On: 4/6/10 at 11:04 PM

[kec]

Posted: 4/7/10 at 11:01am

Close enough...

Hamlet Alert: Three weeks from Today (Wednesday) on Great Performances.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/7/10 at 1:22pm

In regards to Neil's post: that would never happen in my family, although if I wanted I could probably do something similar to my younger sister. I just thought that was cute and, hey, now his daughter's got one more thing to talk about with those guys.

I'm really excited about Hamlet. Granted, I've seen it already, but that was on the computer and I always like to see things on a proper television. (That might explain why I still haven't seen the Eleventh Hour yet.)

[Magdalene]

Posted: 4/7/10 at 5:58pm

I couldn't open Eleventh Hour, so I'll have to wait until the 17th. At least it's only a week and a half away!

I've already decided to get Hamlet on DVD, so if I don't dee the performace on PBS, I won't get upset.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 12:56pm

Sounds like you have a Dr Who marathon coming up - on 17th April, BBC America:

"...will show the final half of Series 4, starting with The Doctor's Daughter and going right through to Journey's End. From 1.30pm it moves onto the gap year specials with The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, taking viewers to the end of the Tenth Doctor's time on the show.
At 8pm it will show Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide, described as a "BBC America original, all-access look inside the universe of the world's biggest, most successful sci-fi television program", before launching Matt Smith to the American public with The Eleventh Hour at 9pm ET."

Full details at Gallifrey Newsbase Updated On: 4/8/10 at 12:56 PM

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 8:50pm

Yes! Although I still wish they would air Series 1 at some point. But this makes more sense right now.

Today via Twitter I stumbled upon kasterborous.com, where I came upon what might just be the harshest article towards the previous seasons of Doctor Who on the internet. There are quite a few things I thought when I read it, one of which is that despite Russel T Davies not coming back, the Daleks are still in Series 5. So here it is:

[EDIT: I should point out that the actual article isn't on katerborous.com. It was mentioned (and linked to) in this article: http://www.kasterborous.com/2010/04/08/fiiiggghhtt/ ]

Smith vs Tennant

Updated On: 4/8/10 at 08:50 PM

[kec]

Posted: 4/9/10 at 8:54pm

As a lead into next week's premier, The End of Time is on again tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Also, ITunes has a 9 minute preview of the new series, available as a free download. Just do a search for Doctor Who.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 8:45pm

SPOILERS...

I ADORED the first episode of series 5, but I had a lot of problems with "The Beast Below." I continue to really like Amy, and Matt Smith is quite a charming Doctor, but there were several gaping plotholes and superfluous things going on in this week's episode. They would have done better to trim some of the ideas and develop others more. Entertaining, but I guess I was expecting more. I personally thought that the whole "humans forcing alien creatures into slavery" thing was done more convincingly in "Planet of the Ood," and I felt like they could have gotten significantly more milage/creepiness out of the continual loop with the queen facing the same choice over and over, but it was a very rushed reveal.

I am definitely digging the Doctor's relationship with Amy, and specifically that he's really skeptical and seems to be testing her. It's like he wants to be let down, because as lonely as he is, he's also afraid of getting attached to another human after everything that's happened. It was strange to see him ordering her about at the beginning of the episode, but that's how I'm choosing to interpret that vibe for now. Updated On: 4/10/10 at 08:45 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:02pm

STORY TIME!!!

I went to a comic book store in Philly I have never been to before (just moved here) and saw they had some DOCTOR WHO comics. Well, out of curiosity, I started moving other comics to see if one might have got misplaced and came across "The Forgotten" graphic novel that was (until recently) discontinued and I practically did a jig in the store and stopped myself from screaming.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 11:51pm

^That's pretty awesome!

One week left 'till the Eleventh Hour premiers in the U.S. I'm so excited! Especially now that I'll get to see what everyone's been talking about.